There Are Three Basic Components of System Software That You Need To Know About

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MODULE IN AE 21 (IT TOOLS APPLICATIONS IN BUSINESS)

Credits: 3 units

Pre-Requisite:

I. Lesson Title: Software Tools for Productivity and Creativity

II. Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to:

1. Describe the components of software.

2. Understand the importance of software tools for productivity and creativity.

III. Lectures:

SYSTEM SOFTWARE: The Power behind the Power

Application software is software that has been developed to solve a particular problem for users
—to perform useful work on specific tasks or to provide entertainment.

System software enables the application software to interact with the computer and helps the
computer manage its internal and external resources.

There are three basic components of system software that you need to know about.

 Operating systems: An operating system is the principal component of system software in any
computing system.

 Device drivers: Device drivers help the computer control peripheral devices.

 Utility programs: Utility programs are generally used to support, enhance, or expand existing
programs in a computer system.

THE OPERATING SYSTEM: What It Does

The operating system (OS), also called the software platform, consists of the low-level, master
system of programs that manage the basic operations of the computer.
These programs provide resource management services of many kinds. In particular, they handle
the control and use of hardware resources, including disk space, memory, CPU time allocation,
and peripheral devices. Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run
other programs.

Different sizes and makes of computers have their own operating systems. For example, Cray
supercomputers use UNICOS and COS; IBM mainframes use MVS and VM; PCs run Windows
or Linux and Apple Macintoshes run the Macintosh OS. Cellphones have their own operating
systems, such as Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0, which works with iPhones, or Google and the Open
Handset Alliance’s Android operating system for mobile devices. 2 In general, an operating
system written for one kind of hardware will not be able to run on another kind of machine. In
other words, different operating systems are mutually incompatible.

Figure 1 Three Components of System Software


CPU Management

The central component of the operating system is the supervisor. Like a police officer directing
traffic, the supervisor, or kernel, manages the CPU (the central processing unit or processor). It
remains in memory (main memory or primary storage) while the computer is running and directs
other “nonresident” programs (programs that are not in memory) to perform tasks that support
application programs.

File Management

A file is (1) a named collection of data (data file), or (2) a program (program file) that exists in a
computer’s secondary storage, such as a hard disk or CD/DVD. Examples of data files are a
word processing document, a spreadsheet, images, songs, and the like.

FINDING & HANDLING FILES

Files containing programs and data are located in many places on your hard disk and other
secondary storage devices. The operating system records the storage location of all files. If you
move, rename, or delete a file, the operating system manages such changes and helps you locate
and gain access to it.

Task Management

What is the purpose of task management? A computer is required to perform many different
tasks at once (multitasking). In word processing, for example, it accepts input data, stores the
data on a disk, and prints out a document—seemingly simultaneously. Most desktop and laptop
operating systems are single-user systems that can handle more than one program at the same
time—word processing, spreadsheet, database searcher. Each program is displayed in a separate
window on the screen.

Security Management

Users gain access in the same manner as accessing their email—via a user name (user ID) and a
password. A password is a special word, code, or symbol required to access a computer system.
If you are using a computer at work, you may give yourself a password.
APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Application Software: For Sale, for Free, or for Rent?

Although most people pay for software, usually popular brands that they can use with similar
programs owned by their friends and coworkers, it’s possible to rent programs or get them free.
Let’s consider these categories.

COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE

Commercial software, also called proprietary software or packaged software, is software that’s
offered for sale, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office XP, or Adobe PhotoShop. Although
such software may not show up on the bill of sale when you buy a new PC, you’ve paid for some
of it as part of the purchase. And, most likely, whenever you order a new game or other
commercial program, you’ll have to pay for it. This software is copyrighted.

PUBLIC-DOMAIN SOFTWARE

Public-domain software is not protected by copyright and thus may be duplicated by anyone at
will. Public- domain programs—sometimes developed at taxpayer expense by government
agencies— have been donated to the public by their creators. They are often available through
sites on the internet. You can download and duplicate public-domain software without fear of
legal prosecution.

SHAREWARE

Shareware is copyrighted software that is distributed free of charge, but users are required to
make a monetary contribution, or pay a registration fee, to continue using it—in other words, you
can try it before you buy it.

FREEWARE

Freeware is copyrighted software that is distributed free of charge, today most often over the
internet. The web browsers Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are of this type.
RENTALWARE: ONLINE SOFTWARE

Rentalware is online software that users lease for a fee and download whenever they want it.
This is the concept behind application service providers (ASPs), or software-as-a-service (SaaS)
technology, the idea of leasing software over the internet.

PIRATED SOFTWARE

Pirated software is software obtained illegally, as when you get a CD/DVD from a friend who
has made an illicit copy of, say, a commercial video game. Sometimes pirated software can be
downloaded off the internet.

ABANDONWARE

“Abandonware” does not refer to a way to obtain software. It refers to software that is no longer
being sold or supported by its publisher.

CUSTOM SOFTWARE

Occasionally, companies or individuals need software written specifically for them, to meet
unique needs. This software is called custom software, and it’s created by software engineers and
programmers.

Types of Application Software (Figure 2)


WORD PROCESSING

Word processing software allows you to use computers to create, edit, format, print, and store
text material, among other things. Word processing is the most common software application.
The best-known word processing program is Microsoft Word, but there are others, such as Corel
WordPerfect, Apple Pages, Google Apps (a free download from www.google.com/apps),and
Zoho Writer (a free download from www.zoho.com).

SPREADSHEETS

The spreadsheet allows users to create tables and financial schedules by entering data and
formulas into rows and columns arranged as a grid on a display screen. Today the principal
spreadsheets are Microsoft Excel, Corel Quattro Pro, and IBM’s Lotus 1-2-3.

DATABASE SOFTWARE

Database software is a program that sets up and controls the structure of a database and access to
the data. A database is a collection of interrelated files in a computer system.

SPECIALTY SOFTWARE

Examples of specialized software are presentation graphics, financial, desktop-publishing,


drawing and painting, project management, computer-aided design, video/audio editing,
animation, and web page design software.

Reference:

Williams, B. & Sawyer, S. (2011). Using Information Technology: A Practical Introduction to


Computers & Communication. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning

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